WITTENBERG – A 29-year-old Gillett man was not mentally responsible when he used a .38 caliber revolver to take a store employee hostage in Wittenberg this spring, a Shawano County judge has ruled.

Travis Keiler was found not guilty by reason of mental disease of taking a hostage and failing to comply with police orders. Judge William Kussel ordered that Keiler spend up to 26½ years in custody of the state Department of Health Services.

That will mean an initial confinement in a state mental institution until psychologists can persuade a judge that Keiler could be conditionally released without posing risk to himself or others.

Keiler entered the Wittenberg Shell station and McDonald’s outlet at 413 N. Genesee St. about 2 p.m. April 22, authorities said. At first saying little, Keiler, who is 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, stepped behind the counter and pulled a stolen .38-caliber Taurus revolver from his pants.

“His comment was he wanted to have a confrontation with police. He wanted a confrontation with us,” Shawano County Sheriff Randall Wright said.

Workers and customers helped each other escape from Keiler, who indicated that he had chosen the business as a place to confront law-enforcement officers.

The criminal complaint says Keiler had been driving around the area after quitting his job that day. He held store manager Jacob Kujawa, 26, hostage for an hour, telling a negotiator during the incident he believed police had been following him.

Sheriff Randy Wright said the actions of people inside the building may have saved lives. He lauded Kujawa for staying calm and keeping Keiler calm for the hour they were alone in the building.

Others made certain more people did not enter the building before police arrived to seal off the area.

Keiler surrendered after about an hour-long standoff, in which no one was hurt.

— psrubas@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter@PGpaulsrubas.